Windows users might finally decide it’s time to make the switch to Apple if they want the ultimate PC. That’s because the next breed of Macs will feature the new M1 Ultra processor, with the US technology giant promising that these personal PCs will be the most powerful in the world.
The new system-on-a-chip (SoC) was unveiled during Apple’s “Peek Performance” keynote last night and looks set to offer some pretty mind-blowing performance. In fact, this SoC packs a whopping 114 billion transistors, the most ever in a personal computer chip.
Thanks to a 20-core CPU with 16 high-performance cores (for intensive tasks) and four high-efficiency cores (to keep power consumption low during less strenuous operations), the Ultra can deliver 90 percent higher multi-threaded performance than the fastest available 16-core PC desktop chip in the same league.
Then there’s a 32-core Neural Engine that is capable of running up to 22 trillion operations per second. This portion of the chip handles anything that requires Artificial Intelligence (freeing up the rest of the silicon to handle everything else) and enabling clever photo editing tricks, intelligent suggestions based on your daily habits, and hands-free Siri.
All of these stats should mean that Apple’s PCs with the Ultra installed should breeze through even the most challenging tasks such as 3D rendering and 8K video editing.
Along with being super powerful, the M1 Ultra is also highly efficient meaning it uses less energy to perform the same data-intensive tasks.
For the most graphics-intensive needs, like 3D rendering and complex image processing, M1 Ultra has a 64-core GPU — 8x the size of M1 — delivering faster performance than even the highest-end PC GPU available while using 200 fewer watts of power.
“M1 Ultra is another game-changer for Apple silicon that once again will shock the PC industry. By connecting two M1 Max die with our UltraFusion packaging architecture, we’re able to scale Apple silicon to unprecedented new heights,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.
“With its powerful CPU, massive GPU, incredible Neural Engine, ProRes hardware acceleration, and huge amount of unified memory, M1 Ultra completes the M1 family as the world’s most powerful and capable chip for a personal computer.”
Apple has revealed that its new Mac Studio will be the first PC to feature the M1 Ultra. This desktop PC promises to be 50 percent faster than the Mac Pro – the most expensive computer currently available in the Apple Store – and 3.4x faster than the most powerful iMac you can buy today.
Mac Studio is available to buy from the Apple Store today, starting from £1,999 and maxing out at £7,999 for the model fitted with an M1 Ultra with 64-core GPU, 128GB of unified RAM, and an 8TB SSD. The first computers will begin to ship on March 18, 2022.